Half of my Blood
by septasonicxx
Summary: DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILAGE! Hermione and Ron decide not to go with Harry to defeat the horcruxes. The ministry is putting out new laws and one concerns muggleborns. Hermione needs help from someone. DRAMIONE DRACO/HERMIONE! Set in the last book. Duh.
1. Prologue

Hermione glanced nervously at Ron and then looked back over at Harry, who was eyeing both of them suspiciously.

"Harry, we're so sorry but we've decided not to go with you." Hermione said quietly. Harry swallowed and continued staring silently. "We'd really like to, but Ron's mum would have a terrible fit and I really want to be around to protect my parents in case Voldemort goes after them."

"You understand, don't you?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Yeah, yeah of course." Harry nodded quickly. "I'll tell you how it goes."

"I've put some books together that you might need," Hermione said, smiling now that she knew he was alright with her not going. "Things to help along the way, you know. And I've packed all your things into this bag." Hermione then held out a small shoulder-bag, which Harry looked down at in confusion.

"Hermione, you couldn't have possibly managed to fit all my things in there." he pointed out.

"I've put an extendible spell on it so it's larger inside than it appears. Remember the tent we stayed in for the Quidditch world cup?" Hermione explained, reaching inside the bag and pulling out one of the large books she had packed to prove her point.

"Oh, right." Harry nodded.

"Stay safe, okay?" she said, stepping forward and hugging him.

"I will, don't worry." Harry confirmed with a small smile as he hugged her back. When she stepped away Ron came forward and hugged him as well.

"Promise not to get hurt, alright?" Hermione ordered firmly.

"I'll do my best," Harry grinned. "And you two as well. Keep out of trouble."

"I'll make sure we do." Hermione assured him. "Come on, we should go downstairs and see if Mrs Weasley needs help with anything."

"Blimey, we'll be working all afternoon." Ron muttered as he grudgingly followed Hermione downstairs. Hermione laughed, glancing over her shoulder at him.

"She just wants it to be a perfect day for Bill." Harry said with a grin.

"Yes, seeing as he's the first son in the family to be married." Hermione agreed. "Helping her is the least we can do."

They continued downstairs and founds Mrs Weasley rushing about in the kitchen. As soon as she saw them she rushed over and let out an 'oh!' of exclamation.

"Thank goodness you three are here! Hermione dear, could you come help me with the materials? We've got to get them all up by this afternoon! Ron, fix up the kitchen please. Oh and Harry, do you think you could go out and help Charlie? He was having a bit of trouble last time I checked on him. Come on now!" Mrs Weasley waved her hands at Hermione to hasten her out the door and they left rather quickly.

"I guess I should go see what Charlie's up to." Harry shrugged, shooting Ron a sympathetic look as he headed for the door.

"Go ahead. Just leave me to my death." Ron muttered as he rolled his sleeves up and began working to clean the kitchen with a roll of his eyes. Harry grinned and shut the door behind him as he walked out to find Charlie.

Hermione and Mrs Weasley sat down in the living room to sort through all the materials they had.

"I have no idea which ones are supposed to go on the tables and which ones are for the windows!" Mrs Weasley sighed in exasperation.

"We'll figure it out, don't worry." Hermione said as she constructed a pile of materials which were all the same. Mrs Weasley frowned and began helping her separate them.

Once that was done, they opened each set of material up to see how large it was and put all the larger ones together and the smaller ones together.

"I'm guessing the smaller ones are for the tables and the larger ones are for the windows." Hermione said as she sat back and surveyed the piles. Mrs Weasley nodded thoughtfully and then the two of them proceeded to move all the smaller sections of material outside to be lain over the tables.

"Ow! Ow!"

Hermione winced as she heard Ron's loud yelps from the kitchen and momentarily wished she could be in there to tell him the correct spells to use.

"Come along now. We need to get the curtains up." Mrs Weasley said after flicking her wand one last time and watching the last square of material float down onto its' table. Hermione nodded and followed her inside to continue the preparations for Fleur and Bill's wedding.

*

Hermione sat beside Ron, glancing frequently over at his 'cousin'. It was the aftermath of Fleur Delacour and Bill Weasley's marriage and people were hanging around to simply talk and catch up.

"Something's going to happen, I can feel it." Hermione whispered to Ron. A gentle breeze drifted through and Hermione shivered. Ron put an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer, frowning in thought as he too glanced over at his 'cousin'.

"As long as it doesn't happen before he has time to get away, it's fine." Ron replied. Hermione nodded her agreement and tried to relax, her eyes drifting over to where Fleur and Bill were talking to some of the other guests.

"He's got the bag with him, doesn't he?" Hermione added nervously.

"Yes." Ron confirmed.

"Oh good." Hermione breathed out in relief. "I'm so nervous. Do you think we should be going with him? I'm scared he's going to get himself killed or something."

"I know," Ron said quietly. "I feel the same but we've already said we're not going. My mum would probably have a heart attack if we suddenly changed our minds. She was so thankful we'd decided not to go."

"But what if something-?"

"Stop it." Ron snapped. "You're not helping."

"I'm sorry." Hermione sighed, staring down at the ground. "I just can't believe we actually said we wouldn't go with him."

Ron opened his mouth to reply, but stopped as a flash of white darted into the middle of the crowd and hovered above. A voice sounded from the patronus and Hermione grabbed Ron's wrist tightly.

Once the message ended, the patronus vanished.

People started screaming, running in all directions as confusion took a hold of them. The ministry was infiltrated? How?

Hermione and Ron immediately began running towards where Harry, using a polyjuice potion, was pretending to be Ron's cousin.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Harry said as they reached him.

"Be careful!" Hermione gasped, feeling hot tears falling from her eyes. She grabbed him into a hug and then let Ron hug him again.

"If you get yourself killed I'll never forgive you." Ron said gruffly.

"I know." Harry replied. "I'll miss you both, you know that."

"Goodbye Harry." Hermione whispered, stepping closer to Ron.

"Can't wait 'til we see you again." Ron said.

"Same here. Bye!"

Hermione and Ron stared as Harry disapparated; eventually they managed to turn back to the rest of the confusion where some members of the Order were trying to calm everyone down and explain what was to be done.

"It's begun." Hermione wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed.

"He'll be okay." Ron assured her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She turned into him, putting her arms around his neck and allowing herself to cry freely.

They stayed like that as long as they could, but soon had to move as they were directed to where they had to go in order to escape the death eaters which the patronus had said were coming.


	2. Chapter 1

As Hermione slowly walked towards the Hogwarts Express, for the first time she felt despair about going back to Hogwarts. Ron was walking beside her, a grim look on his face as he stared at the train.

So much had happened since the day when the Burrow had been attacked. Once the mix of Ministry workers and Death Eaters had finished searching everything and left, Hermione had stayed with the Weasley's as they attempted to settle back into their home again. She hadn't wanted to go back to her home in case she lead the Death Eaters to her parents, and the Weasley's had promised her that it was no problem at all to have her with them.

Now her biggest worry was whether or not Harry was still alive and how he was doing with finding and destroying the horcruxes. What if he never succeeded in his task because she wasn't with him to help?

"It's gonna be weird not having Harry around this year." Ron commented sadly, dragging his suitcase onto the train. Hermione nodded silently, following him.

"I'm so worried about him." she whispered as they then proceeded to try and find an empty compartment.

"He'll be fine. I'm sure of it." Ron said to her with a smile of reassurance.

"Thanks." Hermione said quietly.

They soon found an empty compartment and slipped in, both remaining silent. What was there to talk about without Harry there too? They were both thinking about him and regretting their decision to not go with him. Hermione bit her lip in worry and Ron reached across to take her hand.

"Everything's going to be fine."

"Well look who's here." Came a mocking voice from the door to their compartment. Hermione and Ron looked over to see Draco Malfoy with a large smirk on his face as he looked down at their hands. Ron went to take it back but Hermione held it tighter, staring back at Draco defiantly.

"Get lost." she said.

"Why? So you can snog?" Draco laughed and looked over his shoulder at Blaise Zabini, who also shared in his amusement.

"Just leave us alone." Hermione narrowed her eyes angrily.

"Where's Potter? Did he run off on you? Left the country, has he? Not brave enough to stand up against the Dark Lord even _with_ you lot backing him up." Draco laughed again and this time Hermione stood up, dropping Ron's hand and stepping very close to the blond.

"Get out before I hex you." Hermione growled.

"You don't even have your wand out! Not going to be able to do much, are you?" Draco scoffed.

"I've been practising wandless spells," Hermione informed him, lifting her chin slightly. "So if I were you I wouldn't be so smug."

Draco swallowed nervously and sneered at her before turning and walking away. Hermione sighed and pulled the sliding door across before sitting back down.

"If he annoys us ever again this year, I swear I'm going to turn his hair pink." Hermione growled under her breath. Ron grinned and allowed a quiet chuckle to escape his lips. As she looked up at him with a smile, she noticed he was incredibly red in the face. "Are you alright?"

"What? I'm fine." he said rather quickly.

"I'll open a window." Hermione said quietly, moving over to open it up and allow air into the compartment. Perhaps he was just feeling hot and needed some circulation. As she sat back down she felt her own face flaming up in embarrassment and wondered why she felt so nervous suddenly.

"If uh, Malfoy comes near us again I'll make sure he leaves really quickly." Ron said, swallowing.

"Thanks." Hermione said, staring down at her hands. She decided it would be best _not_ to mention that she doubted in his capabilities, figuring that it was the thought which counted anyway.

*

Hermione had never been as stunned in her entire life as she was when she found out that Professor Snape was now the Headmaster of Hogwarts. She had never really thought of asking who had taken over for Dumbledore and now that she knew, she was horrified!

"What's with these Carrows?" Ron asked in a hushed tone as they sat at the Gryffindor table listening to Snape give a short speech. Each of the tables felt empty compared to the amount of students standing in the middle aisle, waiting to be sorted. They were all the students who had only come because of the rule that it was now compulsory.

"I don't like them." Hermione whispered back, frowning. Snape finished speaking and gestured stiffly for the sorting begin. The students sitting at the tables shifting uncomfortably as they knew it would be a long process which they would have to sit through.

Hermione was amazed at how silent the room was even in-between speaking. There was fear in the air and it concerned her because she knew the Professors would be able to feel it as well, and may decide to use it to their advantage.

After quite a while of sitting and watching the sorting, it was over. Snape stepped forward again and stared silently at everyone before speaking, probably to intimidate them.

"I have been told to inform you of a law which has only just been approved and will be announced to the rest of your families in three weeks time. Recent evidence has been found to support the belief that muggle-borns have stolen magic in order to be a wizard or witch." Snape paused and looked over at the Gryffindor table, his eyes narrowing. "Every muggle-born wizard or witch will be attending a trial at the Ministry of Magic to determine whether or not they have stolen their magic. If it is found that they have, they will be sent to Azkaban."

Sitting back down, Snape waved a hand and the food appeared on the tables. For a few moments no one moved except a few Slytherins who dug straight into their food.

"That's barbaric." Hermione whispered, horror-stricken.

"They can't do this!" Ron agreed, moving slightly closer to her. After the sorting the tables had become so crowded that it was impossible not to be touching the person on either side of you.

"What am I supposed to do? There's no way they'd believe me if I said I hadn't stolen magic. Not even if they used veritaserum on me. Don't you see? This is all just a con to get all the muggle-borns into Azkaban!" Hermione's voice had risen slightly and Ron put a hand on her arm to calm her, sorrow in his eyes.

"We'll figure something out, alright? I promise!" he said firmly. Hermione sniffed and nodded, looking down at her still empty plate. She had lost her appetite after that announcement and wasn't sure whether she would ever get it back.

"We should have gone with Harry." she whispered.

"I know." Ron mumbled back, letting out a sigh before reaching for some food and dumping it onto his plate. He was nowhere near half as enthusiastic about eating as he used to be and it made Hermione feel a bit better that she wasn't the only one who had been affected.

*

Their first class the next day was horrible. It was Defence Against the Dark Arts, which was now being taught by the male Professor Carrow, Amycus Carrow, and had been changed simply to Dark Arts.

Professor Carrow had also made it his personal goal to get the Gryffindors in trouble as much as possible. If a Gryffindor wrote too much in a lesson they would have points deducted; if a Gryffindor wrote too little points would be deducted; if they yawned at the wrong time it was the same; if they sneezed; if they coughed.

Hermione had already had a total of 100 points deducted in one lesson alone. Their house points were far down in the minus region.

It was when Hermione walked into Muggle Studies to find the female Carrow, Alecto, standing at the front of the room that she came to the conclusion she would probably not make it out of this year alive.

Walking to her seat calmly and quietly, Hermione had hoped to be unnoticed by the Professor who was glaring from her position at the front. _That_ was impossible.

Alecto Carrow had smirked when she saw the frizzy-haired Gryffindor and shouted at her for not knocking before she had entered. Half of the class was already in the classroom and Hermione wished she could talk back but knew she couldn't. Instead, she hung her head sadly and stared at her desk, mumbling an apology.

"That's not good enough." Alecto Carrow said with a sigh, pointing her wand in front of her and whispering something under her breath.

Hermione's tie suddenly tightened and she gasped, her hands going up to her throat to try and pull it away. Alecto Carrow laughed loudly and watched as Hermione's face slowly turned purple from the strain of not being able to breathe properly.

Hermione hoped the spell was going to be undone as Alecto raised her wand again, but as Draco Malfoy walked into the room the Professor was distracted and turned to him instead.

Tears pricked her eyes as she continued to pull at the tie and she felt dizzy. She was going to die, she just knew it. Was this what it felt like to be hung?

Someone beside her suddenly reached over and also tried to pull it free and Hermione recognised Lavender Brown's terrified face and the tears also pouring down her cheeks. The two girls fought for what felt like an eternity to remove the tie before suddenly Alecto carelessly flicked her wand and it was released.

Hermione gasped and coughed, rubbing her neck and swaying slightly.

"Hopefully that will help remind you that I am not someone to be messed with." Alecto said to the entire class, although she was looking pointedly at Hermione.

Draco Malfoy turned from where he had been speaking to Alecto and started down an aisle, passing Hermione's desk as he did so. A small piece of paper landed on her desk and she looked up in time to see him staring at her before he had continued walking and found a seat far at the back.

Hermione pocketed the note, not daring to read it right then and risk being found out and punished again. She wondered what on earth Draco could want to say to her, although she was sure he would probably only want to laugh at her.

At lunch Hermione stayed in the Gryffindor common room with Ron and a lot of other Gryffindors. There was quiet murmur of everyone complaining about being hungry, but no one was hungry enough to go down to the Great Hall.

Pulling the note out of her pocket as she only just remembered it, Hermione read the short message which was scrawled on the paper.

_You owe me, Granger._

"What's that?" Ron asked quietly, noticing that she was reading something.

"Malfoy gave me a note in Muggle Studies," Hermione told him. She hadn't said anything about what had happened and Ron hadn't told her about his classes either, but Hermione knew there was an ugly bruise on her neck and she could see a bruise on Ron's cheek as well. They didn't need to talk about the things which they knew anyway.

Ron leaned over to read the note and frowned in confusion at what it said.

"What's he mean?" he asked.

"I... I think he was the one who made Professor Alecto Carrow stop-" Hermione swallowed and reached up to her neck nervously. Ron understood.

"Why would he do that?" he questioned, taking the note from her and reading it again as if to unlock some sort of hidden message.

"Perhaps he _wanted_ me to be in debt to him." Hermione sighed. "I wouldn't put that past him for a second."

"Yeah, you could be right there." Ron murmured.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it now. I supposed he's right anyway. If he hadn't done anything I could've... been a lot worse off." Hermione looked down at her hands and tried to push the memory out of her mind, but she could still feel the restriction of the tie choking her.

In a moment of sheer panic, Hermione had torn her tie off and flung it onto the floor in front of her. She realised she had started hyperventilating and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She felt Ron's arm around her shoulders and leant into him, trying not to cry.

"I heard Lavender helped you out with that, too." Ron whispered.

"She did." Hermione nodded, her eyes still shut tightly. "She was very kind."

Ron remained silent, just holding Hermione comfortingly for a while. When Hermione finally sat up straight again her eyes were red.

"If there's a way to escape from this place we have to find it." she hissed hoarsely. "I _can't_ stay here for the entire year."

"I know, neither can I." Ron said with a nod of agreement. "We'll look together, alright?"

"As long as we don't get caught and _killed_." Hermione spat sarcastically, although there was so much truth in her statement that they were silent for quite a while again after that as well, each thinking about what was going to happen to them if they never got out.

And Harry. Oh, why hadn't they gone with him? Surely he wasn't having as much trouble as they were already?

"Come on, our next class will start soon and we don't want to be late." Ron said gently, pulling Hermione to her feet. She picked up her bag and they were about to leave when Lavender ran over to them.

"Hey, um," she swallowed nervously. "Could I walk with you two?"

Ron glanced at Hermione, not wanting to agree to anything that she wouldn't be comfortable with, and Hermione realised it was her call.

"Sure." she nodded.

Lavender smiled in relief and thankfulness, falling into step with the other two as they left the safety of the Gryffindor common room and made their way to their next class. To Hermione, it almost felt as though she and Ron were trying to replace Harry with someone, although that would never be possible.

"We've got Transfiguration," Lavender spoke up after a while. "At least Professor Mcgonagall won't do anything to us."

Hermione nodded firmly, so happy about that information that for a moment she completely forgot about everything else.

As long as Professor Mcgonagall was still at Hogwarts, there would be light.


	3. Chapter 2

"'Mione," Ron said, slumping down on the couch beside her. He was holding a piece of paper in his hand which he handed to her. "I finally got a letter from home. It's obvious why it was approved though." he continued, referring to the fact that all mail was now read before it was passed onto whoever it was meant for.

Hermione slowly unfolded the piece of paper and read it – multiple times.

"What on earth does this mean?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Ron moved slightly closer so that he could see it as well and skimmed over the words to refresh his mind, preparing to explain it to her.

The letter said,

_Dear Ron,_

_We hope you are having a wonderful year at Hogwarts. We received notice of the new law which concerns muggle-borns and would like to know your opinion of this. Also, the swan is welcome to become part of our family, what do you think?_

_Love,_

_Mum and Dad_

"It's pretty simple," Ron said. "The first part is straight-forward and means what it says. But the part about the swan – that's talking about _you_ Hermione."

"I don't understand." Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Become part of my family. We'll convince everyone you're part of my family and therefore didn't steal magic, and we'll all vouch for you!" Ron said quietly, his voice straining from his excitement.

"Ron, I couldn't possibly let you do that! No one would ever believe us." Hermione retorted, feeling a lump form in her throat when she thought of how kind the Weasley's were.

"But Hermione, if we don't try this you'll be sent to Azkaban!" Ron hissed. His stubborn attitude was showing in his eyes and Hermione sighed.

"I just don't want to get you involved in my problem." she whispered.

"But it's my problem too! You're my best friend, Hermione!" Ron continued.

"If we'd gone with Harry this wouldn't be a problem at all." Hermione muttered, turning away from Ron slightly. She hated making him feel guilty, but she felt like she had to push the blame onto someone else even though it was as much her fault as it was his.

"Let's find him then." Ron mumbled, leaning closer so that no one else in the room would accidentally overhear what they were saying.

"Don't be stupid." Hermione said, abruptly standing up. "We went over so much to make sure no one would be able to find him! Do you think we'll possibly have a chance?"

"We can at least try, can't we? And if it doesn't work we can set off on our own mission to destroy the-"

"_Keep your voice down._" Hermione ordered sternly, glancing around at the few students who had glanced in their direction. Ron fell silent and wished he could disappear. He felt like an idiot.

"Hey, Ron? Hermione?"

The two turned to see Lavender and Hermione tried to smile. The strain of it went unnoticed – or was assumed to be because of their day so far – and Lavender glanced around at the other students around them before leaning close.

"I hear they've put up a timetable in one of the corridors showing when the muggle-born students are going to be taken to the Ministry of Magic to be questioned." she said quietly. "I don't think anyone from Gryffindor has gone to check it out yet, though. One of the Carrows will probably be standing there waiting for a chance to strike."

"I'm going." Hermione said firmly, turning and heading towards the door. Ron stood quickly and reached out to grab her arm.

"What if you get hurt?" he asked anxiously.

"Come with me if you're so worried," Hermione snapped. "I have to find out how much time I have before I'm taken for questioning."

Ron glanced back at Lavender momentarily before squaring his shoulders and nodding. Lavender stepped forward and gave a small smile.

"I'll come too." she said.

It took a while for the three of them to find the corridor where the timetable was posted on one wall, but they knew they had come to the right place when they saw Professor Carrow walking slowly from one end to the other, looking bored.

Hermione swallowed nervously and walked straight over to the timetable, trying to ignore Professor Carrow as he turned and fixed his eyes on her, smirking.

"See your name?" Lavender asked quietly, standing on one side of Hermione while Ron stood on the other. Hermione slowly shook her head, her eyes scanning the large timetable desperately.

A figure stepped out of the shadows and stepped up beside Carrow, where the two of them continued observing the three Gryffindors.

"There." Ron said quietly, pointing to where Hermione's name was printed neatly. He ran his finger across to the date and Hermione felt as though she would faint. Lavender seemed to sense this and grabbed her arm to support her.

"November the 3rd," Hermione muttered. "Just under two months from now."

"Look who it is," Professor Carrow finally spoke up, a smirk on his face. Hermione, Ron and Lavender turned to face him and were shocked to see Draco standing slightly behind him. "Come to see how much time you have left outside of Azkaban, have you?"

The three Gryffindors remained silent, knowing very well that anything they said could be manipulated and get them in trouble.

It was a shame that their silence could do the same thing.

"Not going to answer me? I think I'll take thirty points from Gryffindor for that – uh, from each of you." Professor Carrow smirked at the devastated looks on their faces. Then he moved his gaze to Ron and raised his eyebrows. "You're a Weasley, correct?"

"Yes, Sir." Ron said obediently, clenching his teeth together angrily.

"Wonderful! I don't suppose you've heard, have you? That your family has become the biggest disgrace of the Wizarding world?" Carrow laughed at Ron's look of confusion before continuing. "Due to their history of being close friends with Harry Potter and loving everything to do with muggles, they are believed to have helped mudbloods steal magic from other witches and wizards."

"That's not true!" Ron burst out, but quickly shut up as Professor Carrow raised his wand. There was a murderous glint in his eyes and Ron hoped he wasn't about to die.

"If you speak out of term again, I will deduct another two hundred points." Carrow said, which caused Draco to chuckle and smirk at them arrogantly.

"May we go back to our common room now, Sir?" Hermione asked bravely. Professor Carrow turned his eyes on her and frowned slightly, not impressed by her at all. She gulped and involuntarily remembered every punishment she had received so far that year.

"Yes, you may go, but keep in mind that if any of you step out of line again you'll have more than just points deducted." he threatened quietly.

Hermione nodded and turned to go, grabbing Ron's arm gently to pull him along as well. Carrow and Draco watched them closely until they disappeared around a corner.

When they got back to the common room, Hermione began pacing quickly. She bit her lip anxiously and wondered what on _earth_ she was going to do to get herself out of this mess. She had been slightly hopeful that Ron would force her to pretend to be part of his family so that she would be kept out of Azkaban, but with his family in the situation it was currently in that was no longer a possible option.

"Relax Hermione, we'll think of something." Ron said, trying to comfort her.

"But what? We've only got just over a month to work out if there's anything we _can_ do!" Hermione exclaimed. "And if we can't think of anything, then I'll just have to... do my best to prove that I'm innocent."

"Let's not worry about this right now, okay?" Lavender spoke up, her face pale.

"Sorry," Hermione mumbled, finally forcing herself to stop pacing. "Look, I'm going to go to bed early."

Lavender nodded and she and Ron said good night as Hermione turned and went up to her dormitory to get some sleep.

"I really thought I'd be able to help." Ron mumbled. After realising Lavender didn't know of the plan, he quickly filled her in and she then shared in his disappointment.

"I'm sure we'll think of something." she said, putting a hand on his arm. He looked over at her and smiled a small smile, showing her that he appreciated her kind words.

"Thanks, Lavender." he said.

"I just want to help you," she shrugged nervously. "I've always wanted to help you."

Ron was about to say something in reply when Lavender leant forward and gently placed a kiss to his lips before pulling back again, blushing scarlet, and rushing to her dorm.

Ron swallowed and hoped no one had been watching.

*

When Hermione was walking to breakfast the next morning she almost didn't notice that someone was following her. It was only when she waited to walk around a corner because she could hear one of the Carrow's yelling at another student that she heard the footsteps behind her and turned around.

"You're not _scared_ are you?" Draco asked with a smirk as he walked closer to her. "That couldn't be why you stopped walking, could it?"

Hermione scowled, unable to stop the anger that coursed through her veins. She was just thankful that she was smart enough not to act on her anger and not speak either. He was definitely working with the Carrows, so if she spoke and provoked him he would probably be able to hurt her a lot without the worry of being punished.

"I'm sorry, did someone actually get smart and curse you so you can't talk?" Draco laughed, folding his arms.

"You wish." Hermione hissed quietly, her hands curling into fists.

"Yes, actually, I do." Draco sighed and then shrugged. "It doesn't matter though, seeing you without Potter to protect you makes up for it."

"Leave him out of this." Hermione said adamantly.

"Where exactly is he, by the way? In a rabbit hole?" Draco sneered, taking a step closer to her.

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Hermione threatened, trying to ignore the feeling of being looked down on, as he was taller than her and using it to his advantage.

"I could get you in trouble for speaking to me that way, you know." Draco murmured with a smirk.

"Oh yes," Hermione snapped. "Run off to your little Death Eater friends and see if I care."

"You would care Granger," Draco said. "Have you forgotten what happened in Muggle Studies?"

"I _don't_ care. No matter what happens to me, I will never stop defending my friends and fighting for what I believe in." Hermione said in a quiet but strong voice.

Draco was silent for a moment as he considered her and her words. He had always known she was incredibly smart, as she was nicknamed the mudblood know-it-all, but hearing her say something to actually prove how brave she was startled him.

It also made him feel exposed, because he didn't have many real friends to defend and didn't even know what he honestly believed.

One thing was for sure, though. Mudbloods were disgusting.

"You do remember you owe me, right?" Draco asked then, changing the subject to something he was more comfortable talking about. He wanted to feel in control.

"For what, exactly?" Hermione asked.

"Saving your life, dimwit." Draco sighed. "Honestly, I thought you were smarter than _that_."

"Why did you do that, anyway?" Hermione asked with narrowed eyebrows.

"Just so I could gloat in your face later, such as now." Draco smirked. "It really is a wonderful feeling. You should try it one day."

"Are you done? I'd like to eat breakfast." Hermione said with a sigh.

Draco scowled but pushed past her, rounding the corner and making his way to the Great Hall without another word. Shaking her head lightly as she mused on how easy it had been to get rid of him, she made her way to the Great Hall also, but much slower.

Thankfully, the Carrow who had been in the corridor ahead was gone now and she made it safely over to the Gryffindor table, where Ron was looking anxious.

"Are you okay? I thought something must've happened to you!" Ron gushed as she sat beside him.

"I'm fine." she said softly.

"Thank goodness for that, you had me worried." Ron sighed, slumping in his seat now that he knew nothing was wrong. "You should've seen Malfoy though, he stormed in like someone had ruined his birthday or something. I wish I knew what'd happened to him."

Hermione smiled to herself, slightly confused but happy at the same time that she had managed to upset him so much. She didn't know _how_ she had, but that didn't seem to matter too much. She felt as though she had a bit of control back in her life now that she had stuck up for her friends again while not being physically punished for it.


	4. Chapter 3

My apologies for not updating in like, a billion malfoyillion years(5 months), but I've been really busy with a lot of things and to be quite honest, I was just not inspired to write this story. But, to make up for it, this chapter is a bit longer than the others! Yay! And Draco's in it! YAY! So I hope you enjoy reading it, please review, and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon... but if it doesn't come until something like November, please don't be worried! I will not quit this story! I refuse!

* * *

Hermione felt safest when she was in the Gryffindor common room doing her homework. With books open all around her, the sound of her quill scratching on parchment and her friends all around as well she couldn't help but feel better than she did when she was outside walking down a corridor.

Ron was sitting across from her beside Lavender, the two of them also working on some homework. Normally Ron would be playing wizards chess with Harry.

But Harry wasn't there.

Letting out a sigh, Hermione turned a page in the book she was getting information from so that she could continue writing her essay. She had borrowed the book from the library and brought it back to the common room so that she could sit with friends while she worked rather than sitting alone in the library.

Sparing a moment to look up at the others in the room, Hermione chewed her lip nervously. They were all being treated horribly because of their house and almost everyone had a few bruises to show for it.

"Mione, you alright?" Ron asked cautiously, looking up and noticing her faraway look.

"Yes, I'm fine." she said, turning back to her book and trying to concentrate. She needed to get this done so that she didn't get in trouble for it.

"If you ever wanna talk..." Ron trailed off, knowing she'd understand.

"I know, Ron. I know." she nodded and tried to think of another sentence to write in her essay.

"I'm going to go upstairs for a moment," Lavender said to them both as she began to stand. Ron looked up at her and smiled slightly. "I won't be long."

Hermione nodded again but kept her eyes down as Lavender walked off, trying to think of what she could write but only seeing Harry in her mind. How was he coping? Was he alright?

What if he was already _dead_?

"Ron I can't do this." she suddenly whispered, dropping her quill and looking up at him with worried eyes.

"Hey, everything's going to be fine!" Ron said quickly, sensing her distress and reaching a hand over to grab hers tightly. "Understand?"

"No it's not, Ron!" Hermione retorted, looking down again when she felt her eyes begin to fill with tears. "Harry needs us. I can't _believe_ we told him we wouldn't come."

"I know, I feel the same. But what can we do now? There's no way to get out of the castle with the Carrows here!" Ron explained sadly.

"I can't help but feel that we've stuffed everything up. I mean... Dumbledore gave us those objects for a reason!" Hermione would have continued but had to stop when the tears splashed down her cheeks and her throat constricted. She squeezed Ron's hand tightly, glad for some support, but couldn't help feeling terrible.

"Please don't cry, Mione," Ron murmured. "Maybe we will get out, somehow. You never know."

Hermione nodded slightly, keeping her eyes closed now that the tears had started coming and didn't seem to be stopping any time soon. There was only one thing she could do now and she knew that.

"Ron," she said softly. "I'm going to go up to my room and study the book."

"Are you sure you'll find anything interesting? I mean, Hermione, it's a fairytale book!" Ron said to her, his eyebrows creased in doubt.

"There's a reason he gave it to me and I have to find it!" Hermione said angrily, pulling her hand away from him and beginning to pack up her books, blinking rapidly to try and clear away the tears.

"You've already gone through it a million times and said you couldn't find anything!" Ron said, watching as she shoved her books into her bag. "Besides, not even the Ministry found anything!"

"I don't care. I can't sit here and pretend to be a normal school girl when Harry's out there risking his life!" Hermione snapped quietly, turning and storming up to her room. She was sorry for yelling at Ron, but knew there was nothing she could do. She _had_ to keep studying the book. The more she did, the likelier it was that she'd pick up on something she'd missed before.

And at least it would make her feel a bit better for being able to do something while being away from Harry, and it would keep her mind off the trial which got closer each day.

She just wished there was some way she could contact him.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Hermione went back down to the common room, rubbing her sore eyes and seating herself beside Ron on the lounge. He looked up at her and frowned slightly, seeing her tired state.

"Have you been reading that book this entire time?" he asked in disbelief.

"What else was I supposed to do? It's more important than anything else right now, so I can't waste time with other things." Hermione retorted, becoming slightly defensive.

"What a change." Ron said with a sigh, looking away again.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Just that you're no longer freaking out about homework." Ron shrugged innocently. Hermione looked down at her hands and fiddled nervously for a moment.

"I have nothing against completing my education, but with Hogwarts as it is, I'd be better off going somewhere else. They're teaching us horrible things and frankly, trying to help Harry is a much better use of my time." Hermione said quietly.

"You're not going to stop altogether, are you?" Ron asked.

"Of course not! I can use the opportunities of writing essays in DADA to speak my mind." Hermione pointed out.

"They'll hurt you!" Ron exclaimed.

"They'll hurt me anyway, Ron! I'd rather let them know what I think before getting punished instead of saying nothing and getting punished anyway." Hermione said heatedly before calming again.

"I'm just worried about you." Ron admitted.

"Harry is the one we should be worried about, Ron," Hermione said. "He's out there all alone, trying to do something he shouldn't _have_ to be alone to do!"

"I know! But what are we supposed to do?" Ron exclaimed. "We stuffed up, okay? So what? We can't change that now!"

Hermione stayed silent for a moment as she stared at Ron and let his words sink in. He was already looking guilty for yelling, but she knew what he had said was absolutely true. They couldn't change the choice they had made.

"I think we should search for a way out." she finally said quietly.

"Okay." Ron replied.

"After that, we'll go to Grimmauld Place and see if Harry's still there, or wait for him if he's not." Hermione said, nodding her head as she was glad to finally have more of a plan. "No matter what he says, we'll tell him we're helping."

Ron nodded as well, liking the sound of the idea even though he was doubtful they'd ever make it out. He didn't want to make her feel even worse by saying that out loud, though, because it would mean they had no chance to get Hermione out before the trial – which would, no doubt, end in her being sent to Azkaban.

Ron shuddered.

What would Harry think if he ever heard that Hermione had been sent to Azkaban? It wouldn't make him feel good, Ron knew that much. He'd probably think the world was crumbling around him.

Glancing over at Hermione, Ron sighed. "I hear him sometimes."

"Harry?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," Ron nodded. "When I go to bed I imagine him calling out to us, asking us to join him and getting angry because we didn't come."

Hermione put a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, the thought of Harry doing that tearing her apart.

"We should go to dinner." Ron mumbled, wondering whether he should have kept it to himself. Hermione hurriedly wiped her eyes in case there were any stray tears and nodded forcefully, standing up.

"I'll go get Lavender." she said, rushing off before Ron could say anything else.

* * *

After dinner, Hermione left Ron and Lavender, saying that she needed to go to the library to find another book to use for some research. She made her way through the corridors quickly, glancing over her shoulder almost constantly in case one of the Carrow's was out for a stroll and happened to run into her.

When she could see the library doors, she felt much better and practically ran for them, bursting through and startling Madame Pince to drop an armful of books which she had been carrying over to their correct shelves.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hermione apologised quickly, moving over to help the librarian pick them all up again.

"Not to worry, dear," Madame Pince said kindly. "I just thought you were... someone else."

Hermione didn't press the matter as she helped put the books away and then went on her own way through the shelves. She didn't have to ask to know that Madame Pince had been worried about one of the Carrows, or perhaps even Snape, entering through those doors.

As Hermione glanced around at the books surrounding her and set off to look for the particular one she wanted, she forced herself to relax. She would never be able to concentrate on her work if she was too busy worrying about whether or not the door was going to open again and reveal a Death Eater.

Unfortunately, Hermione was so caught up in trying to relax that she didn't notice there was someone ahead of her until she bumped into them and hurriedly stepped back, beginning to apologise. The words died on her tongue, however, as Draco turned around and sneered down at her, pulling his wand out to cast a cleaning charm on his robes.

"As if that was necessary," she spat at him, disgusted by his behaviour.

"Who knows what sort of diseases I might catch if I left your filth on me?" he asked, a shudder running through his body as he thought about it.

"No more than usual, I can assure you." Hermione said, rolling her eyes and turning to walk away from him. She paused however and turned to look back at him, her mouth falling open as she suddenly noticed something her eyes had not caught onto before. Draco swallowed and turned his face away, hiding the left side from her gaze.

But she had already seen the dark bruise and pursed her lips in thought. She couldn't believe anyone would be brave enough to stand up to him without fearing something worse happening to them, especially since Draco would no doubt tell the Carrows.

"I hope whoever did that to you is still alive." Hermione said, lifting her chin slightly as she saw Draco's eyes flash and his jaw clench tightly. He gave up trying to hide it from her to glare angrily and she defiantly stood her ground.

"You should leave," he growled. "Otherwise I'll tell Professor Carrow you've been a naughty little girl and he'll have you punished accordingly."

Hermione considered her next words carefully, knowing full well that an angry Draco was bad news. To push him too far would be a very bad idea, especially since he had stronger Death Eaters on his side. However, she couldn't help but question why she hadn't heard of anyone attacking him, since they would definitely have been hurt in return for such an act of bravery.

"Wait... one of _them_ did that to you, didn't they?" Hermione asked in soft disbelief. It was a bizarre thought, but there was only one way to find out and that was by asking.

"Are you insane? They're on my side! Why would they do that?" Draco hissed, suddenly avoiding her eyes.

"So you're in here researching a book, are you?" Hermione asked pointedly, raising her eyebrows at his empty hands and lack of a bag.

"So what if I am?" he snarled.

"But you're not," Hermione slowly shook her head. "Because you don't do Ancient Runes." She gestured at the books on Runes which surrounded them and Draco floundered momentarily for something to say in his defence.

"You don't have to be looking for a book to enter a library," he finally settled for, clenching his wand tightly in his hand.

"I think you're hiding." Hermione said, a small smile appearing on her face as she saw his discomfort. "I think you're hiding from the Carrows."

"I am not." he seethed, speaking far too quickly for Hermione to believe him and she folded her arms smugly.

"I wonder what Daddy would say if he heard you did something worth punishing. Tut-tut." she mocked. Her feeling of power from the last time she had encountered Draco was coming back and she wanted to make him hurt just as she and her friends had been hurting lately.

"Don't you dare speak about my Father." Draco warned lowly, raising his wand and startling Hermione, who had completely forgotten he was holding it in his hand. Her control of the situation began to trickle away and she clenched her fists.

"What would be worse, your Father being disappointed in you or your Mother?" Hermione asked, the words coming as a desperation to cling to the last thread of control she had. She did not want to relinquish it to Draco, although she knew the battle was lost.

"Shut up!" he shouted, disturbing the peace of the library. Hermione saw the glint of malicious intent in his eyes as soon as it appeared, but before she could do anything he had pointed his wand at her arm and yelled, "_Diffindo!_"

Hermione gasped painfully and hurriedly clutched her arm, trying to stop the bleeding which now came from the fresh, sliced wound Draco had inflicted upon her. She looked up to see him stepping away, sneering, and launched herself at him before she could comprehend what she was doing.

"I _hate_ you!" she screamed, letting go of her bleeding arm to slap him as hard as she could and then staring in satisfaction at the blood smeared across his face, covering his bruise. His eyes were fixed on the ground and wide in horror as his head stayed turned to the right.

Slowly, he raised a hand to his twice injured cheek and lightly touched the substance on him, his eyes closing momentarily as he shuddered before they opened again to look at the tips of his fingers, now red.

Hermione was holding her arm again, since it was still bleeding, but seemed captivated by Draco's response to having her blood on him. If she hadn't been so intrigued she would have already headed to the hospital wing so that Madame Pomfrey could fix her up.

"It's red." Draco whispered.

"What were you expecting?" Hermione scoffed, surprising herself.

Draco remained silent for a moment as his eyebrows furrowed before murmuring, "Brown, or something..."

"You mean to tell me that you _actually believed_ muggle-borns had dirty blood?" Hermione asked, eyes wide at his ignorance.

Seeming to snap out of a trance, Draco fumbled with his wand for a moment before he pointed it at his face and muttered, "_Tergeo,_" to remove the blood, then doing the same for his fingers. He glanced up at Hermione and the two of them watched each other curiously for a moment before he swallowed and spun around, walking away quickly.

With a sigh, Hermione pulled out her wand and cleaned the floor where drops of blood had begun to stain it, also moving to leave the library then and ignoring Madame Pince's look of shock as she passed her.

Cleaning up every spot of blood that dropped on her way to the hospital wing, Hermione was exhausted by the time she arrived there.

"Oh dear, what happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked, hurrying over as soon as she saw Hermione's pale face.

"It's not too bad," Hermione said softly. "It's just painful."

"I'm sure it is!" Madame Pomfrey agreed, leading Hermione over to a chair before carefully moving the torn sleeve of her robe out of the way to get to the actual wound, cleaning it gently with a wet cloth before fetching a potion from her office. "This is going to hurt," she warned before applying the purple liquid. Hermione gasped as it stung and then bit her lip, trying not to think about it.

Once the wound was bandaged securely, Hermione was allowed to leave and made her way to the Gryffindor common room, surprised to see Ron, Lavender and Ginny all sitting together talking.

"You're back!" Ron said with a grin, standing up and moving over to her. His eyes quickly locked onto her torn sleeve and he frowned. "What happened, who did it and how soon can I kill them?"

"It doesn't matter." Hermione shrugged it off, not wanting it to become a big thing. Instead, she moved past Ron to the two girls and sat beside them. "Hey Ginny, how are you?"

"Alright, I suppose," Ginny sighed. "Considering I'm trapped in a castle with Death Eaters."

Hermione smiled at the sarcasm and Ron snorted, sitting down again.

The four of them chatted lightly for a while before deciding it was late enough and heading to their dormitories to get some sleep. Hermione was in her pyjamas and about to get into bed when she heard someone calling her name and pulled on a dressing gown, leaving the dorms to see Ron gesturing wildly.

She quickly walked down the steps and followed him to a secluded corner of the common room, where he then revealed the deluminator in his fist and held it between them.

"What of it Ron?" Hermione asked quietly. "Do you know what it's for now?"

"Listen!" Ron hissed and closed his fist around it, lifting it up higher to Hermione's ear. They were both silent for a few moments before a faint sound came from it and Hermione's mouth fell open.

_"Kreacher, tell me what you did with the necklace!"_

"It's Harry!" Hermione whispered urgently. Ron nodded and they remained silent again, waiting anxiously to hear more from the small object. When nothing happened for quite a while, Ron sighed and put it in his pocket.

"I was just lying down about to go to sleep when I heard him again," he began to explain. "And I thought I had to be going mad, but it got louder when I put my head on my pillow. So I picked it up and saw the deluminator and figured it had to be what was making me hear Harry!"

"Oh Ron, he must still be at Grimmauld Place! He was talking to Kreacher. Do you think he really knows where the necklace is?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"I have no idea. But if we get out of here, we'll be able to find him!" Ron grinned.

Hermione was smiling widely as well. Hope had returned to them as they discovered Harry was still alive and at Grimmauld Place. Thanks to Dumbledore's gift to Ron, they would be able to keep tabs on him and perhaps they could even help in their own small way, if Harry was having trouble working something out.

"Everything's gonna be alright." Ron said softly.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: My last update to this story was in July of 2010. (We're six months away from that being a full two years between chapter updates)

LOL

Um. I'm feeling a bit more inspired to write this at the moment, considering the fact that I just finished my other Dramione story (Under the Stairs, sequel to In the Library). Don't expect me to chuck updates at you like hot potatoes, though. It'll still probably be a long process. But hey, at least you've got something else to devour for the next... lol... year...

I am such a cruel person. I don't know why you put up with it.

* * *

Hermione was walking through the common room towards her dorm so that she could continue studying the book Dumbledore had left her when she noticed Ginny, Neville and Luna whispering conspiratorially in a corner. Curious as to what they could be talking about, she wandered over slowly, not wanting to appear as an intruder.

Ginny looked up first and saw her, stopping her sentence halfway and straightening slightly. This only intrigued Hermione more as she merged into their small circle.

"What's going on?" she asked, getting right down to business.

"Nothing," Ginny said quickly, looking away and rolling her lips inwards.

"I don't see why we can't tell her," Luna said dreamily. "She could help us."

"What are you planning?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes. She would have put her hands on her hips if she wasn't holding a pile of books.

They were silent for a moment as they considered whether they _should_ tell or not, but then Neville squared his shoulders and turned to face her.

"You know Dumbledore left Harry the Gryffindor sword, right?" he asked.

"Yes..." Hermione said slowly, wondering what their plan could have to do with that.

"And you know the Minstry won't let him have it?" Neville asked. When Hermione nodded he continued, "We're going to get it for him. If Dumbledore wanted him to have it, it must be important."

"Do you even know where it is?" Hermione asked, horrified.

"It's in Dumbledore's- Snape's office," Ginny said, looking at Hermione again with a firm gaze that clearly showed how stubborn she was about this.

"It's too dangerous," Hermione said softly. "Even if you did get it, how would you send it to Harry?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, won't we?" Ginny snapped.

"Look, I understand that you're trying to help but-"

"What's going on?"

Ron suddenly appeared, joining the circle and looking around at them with careless curiosity. Hermione sighed and shifted her books slightly.

"These three are intending to infiltrate Snape's office to steal Godric Gryffindor's sword so that they can then send it to Harry since it's so important he should have it," Hermione explained all in one breath.

Ron grinned.

"When do we start?"

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, thumping him with her books.

"What?" he asked, scowling at her and rubbing his arm. "I think it's a great idea! It gives us something to do while we're here, and it's a help to Harry!"

"But we don't have a way to send him things!" Hermione said, trying to make him – _all _of them – see sense.

"I say we should start as soon as possible," Luna said to Ginny. "I don't have a class this period, we could go now!"

"Yes, I agree." Ginny said, shooting a glance at Hermione and narrowing her eyes. "Anyone against the plan is free to stay behind."

Hermione groaned and closed her eyes, counting to ten before opening them again and seeing everyone watching her. Now rolling her eyes, she turned and put her books down on a nearby table before returning to the group.

"Fine. I'll come."

Ron grinned, impressed by her decision and the five of them then began walking towards the door with Ginny whispering instructions to them as they went. It was slightly annoying to Hermione that she wasn't in control of the situation but she knew that if she argued with Ginny they would only waste time.

As they exited the common room they all lowered their voices even more to make sure they weren't overheard by anyone else. Hermione listened intently to Ginny's idea of having a couple of them causing a diversion so that the rest would be given a chance to sneak in and steal the sword. The more that Ginny explained, the more Hermione found herself feeling excited.

Ron had been right. This was something they could do while they were stuck at Hogwarts.

Raising his voice slightly once Ginny had finished outlining the plan, Neville said, "Did you all hear? They're still going to be holding trips into Hogsmeade this year. At least there we'll be able to feel a bit less imprisoned."

"Really?" Hermioned asked, surprised. She hadn't been reading any of the notices pinned up on the board recently, to be honest, as she was far too absorbed in The Tales of Beedle the Bard and all her other school work.

"Oh yes," Luna said with a smile. "They probably wouldn't be able to cope if they had to look after all of us students for every single day of the year."

"I can't wait until Christmas," Ginny sighed. "I'm going to beg mum not to send me back here again. I can't _stand_ it."

Hermione glanced across at Ron to find him looking back at her as well. If only her court hearing was after Christmas. Then she would have been able to go home for the holidays and just disappear off to Grimmauld Place with Ron. But no, her hearing was sooner and that meant they couldn't afford to wait that long to escape. They would have to find some other way to get out, and she was glad to see from the look in Ron's eyes that he was thinking the same thing.

"Oh," Luna suddenly spoke up again, reaching into her pocket for something. "I forget to tell you all. I thought it would be a good idea if we started holding meetings for the DA again, don't you agree?" Out from her pocket came the fake Galleon she had been given back when Dumbledore's Army was first formed, the date of their last meeting still engraved around the edge.

"Luna, that's brilliant," Neville said enthusiastically. "We can get everyone to help out again!"

"It _would_ be brilliant," Ginny interrupted. "But Harry has the activation coin. Without it we can't change anything-"

"Yes we can!" Hermione suddenly hissed excitedly. "I enchanted them in the first place, Ginny! I'll just enchant mine to work the same way as Harry's does and then I'll be able to change the date of the meetings."

"As great as this all sounds," Ron said. "Don't you think we should concentrate on the task at hand?"

The other four glanced over at him before realising he was correct and nodding seriously.

"Who wants to be the diversion?" Ginny asked. "I know it's a difficult decision to make, because whoever does it is going to be punished severely."

They paused in their walking to think it over for a moment, and Hermione glanced around to make sure no one was watching or listening. Thankfully there was no one else in the corridor where they were standing at the moment.

"I'll do it," Luna said after a moment, looking around at the others bravely.

Taking a deep breath and puffing out his chest, Neville said, "So will I."

"Great, two should be enough," Ginny said, reaching into her book-bag and pulling out two very familiar looking items. Hermione resisted the urge to tell her off for having the Weasley Twin products, knowing very well that now was not the time or place. Besides, those firecrackers were going to be very helpful for the coming situation.

Luna took one of the firecrackers while Neville took the other, both of them looking a lot more serious than they had a moment ago. With the objects in hand they were finally beginning to realise how much this would annoy the Carrows – and Snape.

"Well, there's no point in delaying," Neville said with a humourless smile. "Coming, Luna?"

Hiding the firecrackers in their hands, Neville and Luna began to run down the corridor to the previously decided place where they would set them off. The plan was to draw all the Professors to the one area so that Hermione, Ron and Ginny had as much time as possible to get into the office.

Watching the other two leave, the final three looked at each other before nodding curtly and rushing off in the opposite direction.

It didn't take long before they were nearing Snape's office and they quickly slowed down, trying to appear engaged in their own conversation in case anyone saw them. They had to wait until Neville and Luna had set off the crackers before making a move, so Ginny pulled a book from her bag and handed it over to Hermione, asking a question about one of her subjects.

"Oh yes, Ginny," Hermione nodded. "The answer to that one is quite simple, see?"

Just as she was pointing to one of the words on the page, a high-pitched whistling sound erupted from somewhere far off in the castle, quickly followed by a loud bang and then subsequent crackles from sparks. It had begun.

"The-the um," Hermione stuttered, trying to remain focused. "The particular ingredient which you have to... you have to add to this potion right here-"

"He's leaving," Ron whispered, and Hermione fought hard not to turn around and check with her own eyes that Snape was indeed leaving his office to find out what was going on.

"So then you, oh wait, what was I-?" Hermione swallowed nervously, far too flustered to remember what she had been saying to Ginny about the work.

"Never mind that," Ginny hissed, snatching the book back. "He's gone now, run!"

The three of them took of without further need of prompting. The stone gargoyle stood in place at the office entrance, perfectly solid and unmoving.

"Did anyone happen to think about what the password might be?" Ron asked as they came to a stop in front of it. "Slytherin, maybe? Salazar? Pureblood? Greasy hair, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, cloak-?"

"Ron, stop," Ginny said with a groan. "Let's think about this. What does Snape value highly?"

Ron stared at his sister as if she was stupid before saying, "I just said everything!"

"Well it's nothing you said, so there must be something else!" she snapped back in irritation.

"Wait," Hermione said quietly. "Let me try something.

As Ginny and Ron clearly had no idea what to try, they stepped back and allowed Hermione to move forward towards the gargoyle. She cleared her throat nervously, hoping that she was right with what she was thinking. It had sprung into her head while the others were still arguing, and somehow it just seemed perfect.

"Dumbledore," she said, speaking clearly. The three of them then waited anxiously, staring at the gargoyle and wishing for it to move aside.

Nothing happened.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione said as she looked back at the other two. "I was so sure..."

"Hermione, wait, don't give up yet!" Ginny said eagerly. "Albus!"

With a gasp, Hermione turned back to the gargoyle and watched in amazement as it got up and walked aside. Of course, why hadn't she thought to use his first name instead of just his last? But before she could dwell on that thought any longer, Ginny was grabbing her arm and pulling her forward to the staircase.

Recovering from her shock quickly, Hermione raced up after Ginny, hearing the sounds of Ron following behind her. They burst out into the main part of the office, panting and already searching with their eyes for any glint of silver or red.

"What's going on here?" a voice said, and Hermione shrieked before realising it was only one of the previous Headmasters of Hogwarts speaking from their picture frame.

"Uh, we were told to come and get something for Professor Snape," she explained quickly, making the lie up on the spot and hoping that it would be accepted easily.

"And what might that be?" the old Wizard asked her, raising his eyebrows and folding his arms.

"The Sword of Godric Gryffindor," Ginny said.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Another Headmaster asked from the opposite wall. "You look like you're hiding from someone."

"How could they have gotten up here if they had not been given the password?" A third voice spoke slowly, and Hermione's eyes widened as she recognised it. "Let them have the sword and go."

"Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione exclaimed, rushing forward to where she could now see his portrait hanging on the wall across from the main desk. "Oh, Professor, it's so good to see you!"

"Now, now, there will be a time for reminiscing with dead friends but this is not it. The sword you are looking for is on the wall behind you. Ah, it looks like Ginny has already found it. Now, take it quickly and leave before anyone finds you. Keep it well hidden."

Hermione was already back-tracking to Ron and Ginny when Dumbledore spoke again, this time less urgently.

"I do trust, Miss Granger, that you will place it safely into the right hands."

Looking back at him, she nodded firmly. "Of course, I promise."

"Then I wish you all a good day, and stay out of trouble."

Without any more backward glances, the three began racing to the door now that they had what they came for. Flinging it open, Ginny tore down the stairs as fast as she could before bursting out into the corridor at the bottom, Ron and Hermione right behind her.

"I _knew_ it!" a voice yelled from the side, and Hermione fought back a scream as she turned and saw Amycus Carrow with his wand pointing at them.

"_Go_ Ginny!" she exclaimed, knowing that the most important thing at the moment was for the sword to disappear before it could be taken off them again. As Ginny began racing away from them, a Slytherin stepped around the far corner and grabbed her before she could swerve away. She screamed and thrashed but was unable to throw off his strong grip.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Hermione raised her own wand and cried, "Accio sword!" holding up a hand to grab it as it came hurtling towards her. Stumbling backwards, she mumbled the password again and then found herself darting back up into Snape's office, almost tripping on the top stairs before she found herself spinning in circles in the middle of the room, eyes searching for anything that could help her right now. Anything at all.

She found the answer after a moment and groaned in despair, still desperately looking for another option as she walked over and took hold of the broomstick. She _hated_ flying. But if that was the only way to escape with the sword, she would have to do it. She could already hear the sound of someone else coming up the stairs so she knew there was no more time to think things over.

Running over to one of the windows of the room and shoving it open, she grimaced as she swung a leg over the broom. Staring down at it, she let out a small whimper of fear. Surely this would end badly?

"Stop right there!"

Amycus had reached the room and was striding towards her, his wand still outstretched in his hand threateningly. Hermione didn't pause to think or find out what he was planning to do – she lurched forward and threw herself, the broom and the sword out of the window as quickly as she could.

Amycus' roar of frustration was drowned out as Hermione found herself screaming and falling towards the ground. She tried to level the broom out but found it almost impossible to do with only one hand as her other was still clinging onto the sword to make sure she didn't lose it. She caught a glimpse of the ground – much closer than before – and then closed her eyes fearfully, fully expecting to end up in St. Mungo's after this.

But suddenly it all stopped.

She was hovering sideways in the air, a soft cushiony feeling swirling around her. Turning her head to the side, she gasped as she noticed she was only about a metre off the ground. As she watched, she found herself beginning to lower down until she was laying on the grass. The soft feeling around her vanished and she hurriedly stood up, looking around to try and work out what had happened.

Around the side of the castle someone was disappearing from view, their robes streaming out behind them as they moved in a hurry.

"No..." Hermione murmured in disbelief, still staring at the spot where she had seen the person leave. It didn't make sense to her, but she was almost positive that above the green-lined robes she had seen a white-blond head.

What could Draco gain from helping her?

Looking down to see the sword and broom still in her hands, Hermione took a deep breath and rushed off along the side of the castle as well, knowing she had to get inside and find a hiding place as soon as possible or else she still might have the sword taken off her and all they had done would be for nothing.

She hoped the others were alright.


End file.
